Hartford, CT - On Tuesday, the State Department of Education released the results from its Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) (grades 3-8) and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) (grade 10).

Based on the high CMT standard of "goal" or above, Connecticut charter schools continued to out-perform their host districts, by an average of 9 points in reading and 13 points in math. More than two thirds of the state's charters (10 of 14) outperformed their host district in both subjects. Some charters are even approaching statewide averages in reading and math – a significant feat considering the statewide average includes affluent communities while the host district average is more heavily weighted towards high-poverty districts. Some of Connecticut's highest-performing charters are even exceeding those statewide averages in math, such as New Haven’s Elm City College Preparatory and Manchester’s Odyssey Community School.

On the CAPT, charter high school student performance was mixed, with the charter average outpacing host districts by 7 points in reading, but lagging by 8 points in math.

NECSN Connecticut State Director, Jeremiah Grace, made the following statement:

"It is significant that, on average, Connecticut's charter schools are both out-performing their host districts in both reading and math, and some are even approaching statewide averages that include the best schools in a state with the worst-in-the-nation achievement gap. While work remains, charters are showing promising results while teaching students in some of our most challenged communities. These results demonstrate why parental support for more charter schools is higher than ever, and why state policymakers have made a commitment to grow the number of public charter school seats across the state."